


must've done something good

by Emyn Nant Nefydd (gwenynnefydd)



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Dancing, F/F, Fluff, Summer Love, The Sound of Music References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-01-22 12:16:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21301925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwenynnefydd/pseuds/Emyn%20Nant%20Nefydd
Summary: Penny teaches Maru how to dance the Laendler. Maru tries (and fails) to not be completely in love with Penny.
Relationships: Maru/Penny (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 29
Collections: Femslash Exchange 2019





	must've done something good

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OnWingsofValor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnWingsofValor/gifts).

> hello! these two are my fave ladies from Stardew, and I'm so happy I got to write them! I hope you like it!
> 
> also, this fic now has a podfic! Read by the v lovely ReadWithDetermination, you can find it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21569269

It was a warm, summer's day when Penny first heard the music. The sun was hot, the grass was sweet, and Penny could smell the ripening of the wheat from the farm down the dirt track. It was an average midsummer day - Penny had the morning off, and Maru had no projects to work on, and so they sat together on their favoured bench, chatting and relaxing in the heat. Maru was practically melting into the bench, freckles and dark skin browning under the sun, a pair of black sunglasses perched on her nose. Penny was busy rubbing another layer of SPF 50 suncream on her rapidly reddening skin -  _ damn  _ her red hair genes! - when the tinkling of the music caught her hear, making her pause. The music was familiar somehow, like she had heard it before. The babbling of the blue river did not distort it, but rather complimented it, and Penny peered around, trying to locate its source. 

"Can you hear that?" she asked Maru. Maru, who had been thinking deeply about nothing at all, blinked and frowned, straining to hear whatever it was Penny was listening to.

“I think I can,” she said, slowly. “Music. I wonder where it’s coming from?”

It wasn’t that Stardew Valley lacked music - rather, it was unusual to hear it in this part of town. Go near Sam’s house and it wouldn’t be unusual to here some kind of rock-metal combo, while in the Saloon it tended to be country. Out in the farmland, the new farmer would hum traditional hymns, while in Maru’s own house Sebastian’s death metal habit was often augmented by her mum’s pointed shouting. But it was mid morning, and the tavern behind them was shut and silent, and all other normal sources of noise were too far away. Maru peered around, looking for the music source, thinking,  _ thinking _ -

“The window!” Penny interrupted, pointing over at the house behind them. “George and Evelyn’s house - I didn’t think they were much for music…”

Maru looked at the blue house. The front window was open, and Penny was right - the soft music looked to be coming from there. She tipped her head, focusing on the soft string music, trying to parse it. It was not Evelyn’s usual fare, and George preferred to listen to the news on the radio, if he ever turned it on at all...

“Maybe George fell asleep in front of the TV again.” Maru mused. “I recognise the song…”

“It’s  _ Sound of Music _ ,” Penny’s smile became affectionate, and slightly embarrassed. “Do you remember watching it with me?”

Maru remembers watching it, falling asleep halfway through, then waking up two hours later to find the film at the exact same place it was when she fell asleep because Penny had watched it through and rewound it to watch it a second time. She doesn’t mention it, only smiles warmly, feeling a soft curl of affection at Penny’s clear love of the film.

“Your favourite, I remember.” Maru shifted on the bench. “This is the part where they dance at the party, right?”

Penny’s smile widened, and she used her toe to trace patterns in the dirt. “That’s right. The Laendler. When I was seven, I insisted on dancing around the house, learning the entire thing. Well, that was when we had a house, not the… you know.”

She looked down at her feet, her face crimson. Maru shifted a little, feeling more than a little uncomfortable, and wanting to do literally anything to distract Penny from her financial situation.

“Teach me.” Maru blurted out before she could think too hard on it. “Teach me how to dance… that.”

“The Laendler?” Penny looked at Maru, her face blotchy but hopeful. “You want to dance?”

“Yeah,” Maru decided to conveniently forget she had two left feet for the moment. “I want to dance with you.”

“Are you sure? This one is a little old-timey.”

“Sure, but I mean… I mean, it can’t be that hard. I can do Captain von Trapp - all he does is step and clap a bit.”

“He does more than that.” Penny rolls her eyes, but her tone was teasing. “Come on, before the song ends.”

Penny pulled her up to her feet, and Maru grinned, savoring the feel of Penny’s soft hands in hers. The gentle music filtered through the air as Penny began her teaching, gentle hands laying Maru’s hands in just the right place, gentle voice telling her where to put her hands, how to spin her, when to do that weird kick-step, and giggling when Maru threatened to do a kick-line instead. But even when Maru was uncertain, or just plain being cheeky, Penny was patient and kind, and affectionate too, her fingers tracing touches along her sensitive inner wrist, face soft and compelling, and palms dragging along Maru’s waist as if she hated to let her go. The dance was old-timey, but when Penny turned them both into intricate twists and turns, Maru could not help but feel her stomach flip each time they passed close, each time Penny’s eyes were on her.

Honestly Maru would’ve fallen in love with her right there and then, just like the Captain and Maria, had she not already been in love with her at this point.

Maru had not seen Penny so completely in her element as she was now, spinning and laughing, stepping in time to the beat as the summer sun warmed the dirt beneath her feet. The flutter in Maru’s heart made her feel light and floaty, as if she was dancing on air, and the sweet scent of Penny’s perfume was dizzying in its intensity. They danced together, laughing, smiling, even as the music ended, turning and touching to the sound of the brook and the distant summer waves. As they came close again, Maru chanced her luck, and pressed a kiss to Penny’s lips, and Penny didn’t refuse it or shy away as Maru had feared, but hummed fondly as they pulled away for another round of the dance.

After a few minutes, as the town around them busied in the run up to lunchtime, Penny drew the dance to a close. Gently, she traced her fingers along Maru’s jaw, and leant up on tiptoes to kiss her again, her mouth as sweet as beignets. Maru held her gently, hands curved on Penny’s delicate hips, not wanting to hold her any tighter for fear the dream would crumble in her hands.

“If I knew dancing with you would be like this,” Maru murmured softly as they parted. “I would’ve asked you to the Spring Dance yonks ago.”

“You still can,” Penny laughed. “There’s always next year.”

Maru smiled, and nuzzled her nose. “Always. But until then…”

With a bright smile, Maru twirled her off again, and Penny’s giggle was warmer and sweeter than the midsummer around them.


End file.
